Massimo Berruti

Made In Italy: CGIL 100

by Massimo Berruti

Publisher's Description

Italy’s largest and greatest trade union, the
CGIL, was formed in 1906, epitomizing what the
fledgling nation’s culture and credos were to
represent in the twentieth century. At the time, the
CGIL was able to encapsulate a traditional working
class, the inevitable bourgeoisie, capitalists, and,
later, fervent communists. Now, almost 100 years
later, Italy has changed fundamentally. The demographic
differences so starkly apparent at the time
of the CGIL’s formation have simply faded away,
like a vibrant watercolor exposed to the sun. They
have been replaced by a colorless chain-store
homogeneity, a vagueness of purpose, a flatulent
middle class without values or value.
Made in Italy CGIL 100 investigates these shifts via
pictures from four young photographers, Emiliano
Mancuso, Mario Spada, Massimo Berruti, and
Giancarlo Ceraudo. It asks the inevitable questions:
How can this have happened? Is anybody paying
attention?